Chapter 968: Senior Brother Dai, I Also Brought Back a Hidden Expert

The summit of Heavenly Gate Peak.

"……I see Junior Brother Dai is looking quite well, much better than in recent years. Have you become increasingly adept at managing the Mission Grand Hall?"

"Being adept is one thing, but the most important factor is that the three major demonic sects have quieted down considerably. There is no longer a need to exhaust my mind and soul analyzing their intelligence. Speaking of which, I truly must thank Junior Brother Lu."

Dai Bufan took a sip of Enlightenment Tea and reclined comfortably in his imperial chair, feeling exceptionally serene.

Had this been the past, he would never have had such idle leisure to come to Heavenly Gate Peak to sip tea and chat with Eldest Senior Sister. He would have long been slumped over his desk, organizing and analyzing intelligence, and issuing missions.

"Though Junior Brother's ways of doing things are rather unconventional, they often yield unexpected harvests. Junior Brother Dai should feel some resonance with this."

"I wonder what kind of luck Junior Brother Lu possesses; trouble seems to arise wherever he goes. Is it not so? I just heard that a battle broke out over at the Celestial Palace yesterday, and it is said they captured two cultivators from the Great Gan—one in the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, and one a Demi-Immortal."

The Enlightenment Tea in the cup was drained by Dai Bufan in a single gulp, and he proceeded to refill his own cup unprompted.

Thinking back to the beginning, when he heard Lu Yang report that Tribulation Transcendence cultivators were fighting here or Demi-Immortals were fighting there, he would still be startled and alarmed.

Now, his Dao heart had been thoroughly tested through time, and battles of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage or Demi-Immortals were no longer enough to cause a ripple in his state of mind.

"It seems the Great Gan cultivators have finally grown unable to restrain themselves."

"Eldest Senior Sister, I have returned." Lu Yang waved at Yun Zhi, a joyful smile brimming upon his face.

"Senior Brother Dai is here as well."

Lu Yang was quite surprised to see Dai Bufan, as he rarely saw him visit Heavenly Gate Peak.

"Returned from the Celestial Palace?" Yun Zhi gestured with her eyes for Lu Yang to sit.

Just two days ago, she had gone to the Celestial Palace to feed Elder Zhu Hong a bowl of water from the River of Twins. She had not expected that only two days later, the Celestial Palace would be attacked by Great Gan cultivators, though fortunately, it caused no casualties.

"Eldest Senior Sister, Senior Brother Dai, come taste these mooncakes and spiritual fruits; they are all local specialties of the Celestial Palace."

Lu Yang retrieved two bundles from his identity jade token. One was filled with mooncakes with laurel flower filling, and the other was filled with spiritual fruits he had found delicious when he ate them after shrinking in size.

"Junior Brother is very thoughtful." Yun Zhi picked up a spiritual fruit and began to eat it in small bites.

She had many dealings and interactions with the Celestial Palace and had eaten these mooncakes and spiritual fruits quite often, but since it was a token of her junior brother's regard, it carried a different meaning.

Dai Bufan picked up a piece of mooncake and ate it alongside his Enlightenment Tea. "Mooncakes with laurel flower filling, indeed it has been a very long time since I last tasted them. Junior Brother Lu is very thoughtful."

"Junior Brother Lu, you took a trip to the Laurel Celestial Palace, did you obtain any harvest?"

Lu Yang thought to himself that Senior Brother Dai was truly as prophetic as a deity; his trip to the Celestial Palace had indeed been worthwhile and highly rewarding.

"Just yesterday, the two Divine Lords of Great Gan, Subduing Demons and Exorcising Evils, entered the Celestial Palace with the intent to fell the Ancestral Laurel Tree. Divine Lord Subduing Demons is at the late stage of Tribulation Transcendence, and Divine Lord Exorcising Evils is a Demi-Immortal. However, with Founder Fang of the Celestial Palace, the Ancestral Laurel Tree, and True Person Chasing Moon joining forces to resist the enemy, no destruction was caused to the Celestial Palace."

Upon hearing this, Dai Bufan did not show too much surprise, but merely gave a faint "oh" in response. "So the Demi-Immortal on the Celestial Palace's side is truly True Person Chasing Moon?"

The intelligence he received on his end stated "suspected to be True Person Chasing Moon," yet arriving at Lu Yang's side, the identity was directly confirmed.

"By a stroke of happenstance, I came to know some of the truth."

"The Ancestral Laurel Tree has already birthed spiritual awareness and become a true living being named Bai Ye. True Person Chasing Moon made an error in her cultivation and had no choice but to share a laurel clone with Bai Ye. True Person Chasing Moon uses it by day, and Bai Ye uses it by night."

"Bai Ye likes to listen to me tell stories. During my time at the Celestial Palace, she sought me out every night. One thing led to another, and I became well-acquainted with her."

"So that is how it is." Dai Bufan nodded thoughtfully, thinking that Junior Brother Lu truly shared a deep destiny with high-level cultivators, while simultaneously taking a bite of the mooncake.

"Since Bai Ye and True Person Chasing Moon cannot leave the Great Snow Mountain, Bai Ye proposed to move one of the Great Snow Mountains to our Ask the Dao Sect. That way, she and True Person Chasing Moon can come over together. From what she implied, it seems she intends to stay long-term."

"Cough, cough, cough—" Dai Bufan was choked by the mooncake and coughed violently, continuously pounding his chest.

"Senior Brother Dai, are you alright?" Lu Yang asked with concern.

Dai Bufan forced himself to swallow the mooncake, waved his hand to indicate he was fine, and looked at Lu Yang with a bizarre expression. "What you mean is, you have abducted the Ancestral Laurel Tree and the founder of the Celestial Palace to our Ask the Dao Sect?"

Lu Yang hurriedly cleared himself of any connection. "It was Bai Ye who brought it up proactively; it has nothing to do with me."

"It absolutely cannot be separated from you, brat." Dai Bufan knew well that Lu Yang's nonsense could not be entirely believed.

Yun Zhi had also not expected that Bai Ye and True Person Chasing Moon would come to their Ask the Dao Sect.

"Is there anything else?" Dai Bufan said crossly, thinking he had prepared himself psychologically, yet he was still startled by Lu Yang's actions.

"Right, right, there is one more thing. I encountered a hidden expert at the Celestial Palace whose cultivation is a bottomless abyss. I invited him back. Senior Brother Dai, do you wish to meet him?"

"A hidden expert?" Dai Bufan wondered. "Where is he?"

Lu Yang displayed the pitch-black ancient ring worn on his right middle finger. "Inside this ancient ring that contains its own mini-world."

"Then I shall trouble Junior Brother Lu to introduce him." Knowing information about a hidden expert was also a part of gathering intelligence.

Yun Zhi raised an eyebrow, instinctively feeling that the "hidden expert" spoken of by her junior brother was not ordinary, and followed Lu Yang and Dai Bufan into the mini-world of the ancient ring.

Within the mini-world of the ancient ring, water mist filled the air and visibility was limited. Even when Dai Bufan released his divine sense, it was useless; the origin of this water mist was unknown, but it possessed the ability to block divine sense.

A massive figure flashed past in the distance, ungraspable to the sight, its nature as a living being unknown, causing Dai Bufan to grow inexplicably tense.

"Junior Brother Lu, where is the hidden expert you spoke of?" Dai Bufan asked in a low voice.

Lu Yang did not speak, but pointed above his head.

Dai Bufan looked up, only to see that the massive figure hidden within the water mist had approached at some unknown moment, immense and elongated.

A colossal dragon head, looking as though it were forged from pure gold, emerged from the water mist, mysterious and majestic.

The dragon head lowered, and its glass-like dragon eyes reflected Dai Bufan's form.

Dai Bufan shivered. The dragon head did not deliberately release any pressure, yet he could still perceive a terrifying might within it—an aura unique to those who had long held supreme authority.

This hidden expert was absolutely a resounding, monumental figure.

"Junior Brother Lu, just who is this senior of great capability?"

"This is the Great Venerable Yinglong worshipped by the Dragon Race of the Eastern Sea. At the same time, he possesses another identity: one of the four ancient immortals, Immortal Yingtian, who governs the power of Heavenly Tribulation. With Senior Immortal Yingtian present, Senior Brother Dai, your future tribulations will surely be safe."

The golden celestial dragon spoke in human tongue, its language sacred and ancient, revealing an aura of primeval desolation. "Junior of the later generations, is it you who wishes to see me?"

Senior Brother Dai's eyes rolled back, and with a thud, he fainted dead away.

Immortal Yingtian scratched his dragon scales with a dragon claw in vexation. "Why are the cultivators of these later generations so faint-hearted?"